Moldova’s National Anticorruption Center said it uncovered a cryptocurrency-based scheme that channelled roughly $107 million to influence the country’s 2025 parliamentary elections.
The agency said digital assets were transferred through non-custodial wallets to intermediaries in Moldova, where they were converted into cash and distributed to activists promoting certain political candidates.
The funds were used to promote candidates, mobilise supporters and bribe voters, according to CNA director Alexandr Pinzari, who described the activity as illegal political financing aimed at influencing the election outcome.
Investigators said one wallet linked to the scheme processed more than $107 million in the stablecoin Tether between 2023 and 2025, including roughly $43 million transferred in 2025 alone.
Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs linked the transactions to a broader Russia-backed influence operation known as InfoLider and traced one payment route to Kyrgyzstani exchange TokenSpot.
TRM Labs senior blockchain intelligence analyst Chris Keegan said TokenSpot appears connected to a wider sanctions-evasion network linked to the sanctioned Russian exchange Garante.
European regulators have been examining the use of digital assets in sanctions evasion, with the European Commission recently considering a bloc-wide ban on cryptocurrency transactions involving Russian counterparties.